Thursday, January 22, 2009

"When yella will be mella... when white will embrace what is right"

I didn't realize that's what this presidency was about for some people. Not a chance for freedom but a chance to get even, with words, actions and I- told-you-so's. A chance for racism to thrive still more. A chance to get a stab at 2 entire races that are both present in my blood. I'm doubly offended. I never cracked a whip and I never dropped a bomb (speaking in regards to Pearl Harbor). Yet I'm chastised twice in one inaugural benediction as delivered by Rev. Dr. Joseph Lowery.

I've spent a good portion of my young adult life trying to slice through a black vs. white perception. I was 5 years old in Marrero, LA when my friend from down the street suggested to me that I wasn't allowed to come out and play because he was black. I said to him defiantly and assuredly, albeit confused, "No it's not, it's because my mom's mean and she doesn't let me do anything." But he was convinced that because he was black I could not come out that day. He was 5 and his worldview was already skewed. I didn't even know what racism was until that day, in fact, I didn't even know that he was considered black until that day. And frankly neither did he, not personally.

Since that day I took it upon myself to impart an air of equality to black people, not because I didn't feel that black Americans were equal, but because others perceived inequality. In my mind, racism seemed to keep itself alive within our own perceptions, therefore making it our own realities. I chose to be obstinate to the popular opinion, not to feel sorry for anyone and make them feel different by treating them special because they were black, but to argue the thoughts of those bent on the idea that racism very much exists every time that they walk into a gas station to buy gum.

You can't tell people that though. A racist America is something some people have held on to so tightly for so long it's as though it's their own prized possession. Almost as if it's some sort of fact of life or something especially unique to one color of person. As if it's their birthright. Yes, it is true, different colored people look at each other - differently. Not only different colors but different accents and dialects. But that's normal in being a human being. It's not racist if a guy dressed up as a thug, who for all intents and purposes associates himself/herself with a life of crime, walks into a gas station and is closely surveyed to prevent a theft. If that same person walks in dressed as the average working class American he/she would not even be considered a threat.

Racism, real racism, scary racism is thriving in some pockets of our country. The kind of people that long for a day when black people are treated as animals, as it was a 130+ years ago, or the type of people who wish to avenge their enslaved ancestors exclaiming blacks are the most powerful race. They should all be herded together as cattle and forced to learn how to read, or something equally as horrible to such small minded individuals.

[This leads me to a footnote thought: It seems as though the word "racist" automatically begets a white/black connotation, at least here in America. Much like the word pill or "the pill" refers to birth control. Hmm...]

For the most part though, a majority of American people, white and yellow, have been screaming, "Hey, I'm really not racist!! I never have been and never will be! I can think for myself, you should try it!" And I think they spoke the loudest in voting for a President, not because of his color, but because he was speaking their language, addressing their needs and color was not even considered. Yes, he is half black, but he is also half white. His blood is as much a part of mine as much as it is a part of theirs.

His upbringing is even likely more similar to mine than that of, say, Jay Z or Young Jeezy who both issued incendiary, hate-filled rhymes that deal with Obama coming into presidency in an almost I-hate-white-people-look-out-now sort of way.

Which is what this rant has been all about. It's ALL of the American people that are victorious. Not "especially black people". This election has most definitely been about transcending racial barriers. That is undeniable. But not just black/white racial barriers, remember, no "yella" man, no red man, NO colored man has been in that position as American president either.

And remember this as well, which our liberal socialist media has failed to highlight, Barack Obama IS just as much white by blood as he is black. And he is probably more white in the way he was raised than he is black. I don't think collared greens, black eyed peas, and fried chicken were a staple in his household.

So my question to you is, how can we, whether we are yellow or we are white, black brown or red, laugh at something like this as if he's some cute old man making a cute old joke?

How many of you disagree with that racial sentiment, more interestingly, how many of you agree?

4 comments:

What makes me happy about Obama's election isn't the fact that he's black -- it's the fact that it signifies progress in such a covertly racist country like the US. His election sends a message of hope to people who have always felt that the American system is somehow set up against minorities. With him in office, I don't think it makes America "black", it simply gets rid of the belief that the US is solely "White America."

As for the video, I think there are two ways to go about dealing with racism. You either pretend that races don't exist at all and agree to see people as all alike and equal or you recognize that there are different races, that people of the same race do tend to share a common culture and that people are different but that we have to be accepting of these differences and recognize that despite everything, we really are all more alike (regardless of appearances) than different. I personally thought the video was kind of funny... It recognized that there ARE different races but in no way was it trying to spread a message of hate.

Le' Me

I love reading, all things film and production, art and photography, food and cooking, marketing and advertising, graphic and web design, dancing, music akin to Damien Rice, creative storytellers like Hideo Kojima and J.J. Abrams, beautiful women, beaches on the coast of California, pizza and bagels from New York, Cajun food from Louisiana (but mostly my own kitchen), Scotch and cigars, Banana Republic clothes, Superhero's especially Superman, football, quality time alone and with the people I love.